Chongfei Manual

Chapter 103

Since Wei Luo became engaged, there were changes to her life.

For example, girls that usually weren’t close to her became friendly with her recently. For example, the number of people visiting Duke Ying’s residence increased. For example, other people’s attitude towards her became more respectful… Ultimately, all of this was because she was going to marry Prince Jing Zhao Jie.

However, these changes didn’t have a great affect on her. She still lived the same way as she used to live in the past. She wouldn’t change because other people had changed.

If she had to say who had changed the most, then it would probably be Fourth Madam Qin-shi and her younger brother, Chang Hong.

Wei Luo wouldn’t be married until next year’s late September, but Qin-shi had already started to prepare the clothes, pillows, and bedding that she would bring to her husband’s house after marriage. Everyday, Qin-shi would send people over to ask Wei Luo what type of design and color she liked. Qin-shi even had people measure her for her wedding dress… Even Old Madam felt that Qin-shi was preparing too early. However, Qin-shi didn’t feel this way at all. Originally, these were things that a mother would do. But, Wei Luo didn’t have a mother. Fourth Madam cared for Wei Luo as if she was her biological daughter. She did whatever she could for Wei Luo. Instead of feeling this was laborious, Qin-shienjoyed doing these preparations.

In her heart, Wei Luo felt grateful towards fourth aunt.

As for Chang Hong…

Wei Luo held her cheeks and deeply sighed. Chang Hong watched her more and more closely. If someone from the palace invited her, he would undoubtedly stop her until he clearly investigated who the other person was. If he found out that Zhao Jie wanted to see her, then he definitely wouldn’t let her leave the residence.

Today, a carriage had come from the palace. They said Princess Tianji was inviting Wei Luo to the palace. The carriage had already waited outside Duke Ying’s residence for almost an hour. Wei Luo sat in front a bronze mirror. She had already finished dressing herself and was wearing a moon white top with a rose pattern and a crimson skirt with an eight-treasure pattern and pearl beading. Just as she walked past the divider screen, she saw Chang Hong. He was wearing an indigo robe with a cloud pattern.

Chang Hong was standing perfectly straight outside the door. He appeared to have already waited for a long time. He didn’t seem surprise when she came out.

Wei Luo instinctively retreated and opened her red lips to say, “Chang Hong…”

How did he know that she was going outside? Including this time, he had already blocked and intercepted her three times!

Ah Luo quickly adjusted her expression and straightforwardly asked, “Why haven’t you gone over Mister Xue’s? You don’t have class today?”

Chang Hong wasn’t the same as her. He had to go Mister Xue’s for class every day since he was twelve years old. Since she was a girl and wasn’t taking the imperial examination, Mister Qi and Wei Kun felt that she didn’t need to learn so much profound and difficult to understand knowledge. So, she only needed to occasionally go to class and finish Mister Qi’s assignments. At this time of the day, Chang Hong would usually be attending class in Mister Qi’s study and wouldn’t have the free time to appear here.

Chang Hong looked at her and answered her question with another question, “Where are you going?”

He seemed prepared and wasn’t distracted by her change in topic. Wei Luo silently cursed in her mind. But on the surface, she brightly smiled to show her dimples and said, “Liuli invited to me to the palace. I was just about to go.”

Chang Hong didn’t move and the expression on his face didn’t change. He didn’t seem to believe her. “Is it really Princess Tianji?”

Wei Luo nodded, “Really.”

He didn’t say anything and only looked at her without moving. His gaze made her feel guiltier. It was too simple for his clever mind to discover clues. After considering, he asked, “If Princess Tianji invited you, why didn’t Mama Qiu come as the messenger?”

When Zhao Liuli invited her to the palace, Mama Qiu would always act as the messenger. This time, instead of MamaQiu, it was an unknown imperial bodyguard. Everyone knew that Liuli only had one imperial bodyguard, Yang Zhen. The other imperial bodyguards didn’t have the qualifications to be the princess’s personal guard.

Normally, other people wouldn’t pay any attention to these details. However, if they really wanted to investigate this, there were many inconsistencies. So, someone like Chang Hong, who was completely vigilant against Zhao Jie, would of course notice this.

Wei Luo was left speechless by his question. She stood in place and impatiently looked at him.

In the end, Chang Hong’s heart still softened. He could never maintain a stern face in front of her. Seeing her pitiful face, he couldn’t help softening his tone as he said, “Ah Luo. Don’t go.”

Wei Luo’s round eyes glistened with water. She seemed like an innocent baby deer. In a soft and weak tone, she said, “But I miss him…”

Of course, she knew that the person picking her up was Zhao Jie and not Zhao Liuli.

Logically, as an unmarried girl from a noble family, she should be more reserved and shouldn’t agree to see him. But, she also missed Zhao Jie. She hadn’t seen him for over half a month since they were engaged. Even if they only talked without doing anything, it would still be good. She liked him and wanted to be at his side at all times. Unfortunately, she couldn’t say these words to Chang Hong. If she said these words, he would immediately become angry. So, Wei Luo could only think about this in her heart.

Chang Hong looked at her and somewhat helplessly said, “You promised me that you wouldn’t see him until your wedding day.”

Wei Luo thought for a moment. He really had said these words on Marquis An Lin’s birthday. Although she didn’t refuse at the time, she also didn’t agree.

He controlled his emotions and seriously warned her, “I heard from other people that girls should protect themselves before their marriage and shouldn’t let themselves be taken advantage by men. This way he’ll treasure you more in the future after you’re married.”

Wei Luo couldn’t believe that he would actually earnestly say these words. Surprised, she opened her eyes wider.

However, she had to admit there was logic to his words. Fourth aunt had also said the same type of words to her. Wei Luo was slightly persuaded by his words.

Beside, if they couldn’t meet, Zhao Jie was definitely more anxious than her… She could see it from how he tried to use Liuli’s name to see her three days in a row. Never mind. Just be anxious. She couldn’t forcefully break out to leave. That would not only hurt Chang Hong’s feelings, it would also sound bad if other people found out.

After Wei Luo thought about these consequences, she decided to comply with Chang Hong’s wishes. She called the servant girl that had brought the message over and said, “Go outside and tell them that I’m not feeling comfortable today, so I can’t go to the palace to see Princess Tianji. I’ll go to the palace to see her when I’m feeling better on another day.”

The servant girl acknowledged her words, turned around, and left Pine Courtyard.

Wei Luo tilted her head to look at Wei Chang Hong. She pursed her lips and smiled, “Are you happy now?”

Wei Chang Hong looked at her and lightly nodded.

Very quickly, it was August 15th. Today was Mid-Autumn Festival.

Duke Ying’s family held their feast in Su Ye, which was a building at the center of a lake at the back of their residence. It was currently late autumn. There were fragmented leaves floating on the surface of the lake. The green leaves had turned into autumn colors and dried out. The unusually bright, full moon was hanging in the sky. The moonlight scattered over the lake and made the flowing water silvery white.

Since Su Yu was built at the center of the lake, if they wanted to go there, they had take boats. Under the evening sky, Wei Luo was wearing a crimson muslin jacket, a gauzy white skirt, and a cherry blossom pink outer robe embroidered with auspicious clouds. Holding Jin Lu’s hand, she boarded a boat.

Third Miss Wei Ya was on the same boat as Wei Luo. Wei Ya had also brought a servant girl. The weight was just right with the four of them plus a female servant to row the boat.

After Wei Luo was engaged, Wei Ya was the remaining unmarried girl in their family. Third Madam’s parents’ family’s conditions weren’t good and her own demand was high. She was very picky with selecting her son-in-law. If someone’s family background were slightly inferior, she would look down on him. The families with very good backgrounds weren’t interested in Wei Ya. This was why Wei Ya hadn’t been engaged yet. Third Madam couldn’t accept a lower position, but she couldn’t reach a higher one either.

The small boat slowly coasted. The female servant was rowing at the bow of the boat. Wei Luo and Wei Ya greeted each other when they boarded the boat, but didn’t say another word since then.

The small boat quickly arrived at Su Ye and stopped at the edge of the pavilion. Wei Luo lifted her skirt to walk forward and decided to go upstairs. Wei Ya suddenly called out, “Younger sister Ah Luo.”

She stopped, turned her head, and asked, “Is something wrong, third older sister?”

Wei Ya stood on the small boat and hesitantly asked, “I just wanted to ask you how did you meet Prince Jing? Why did he come to our home to propose marriage…”

Wei Luo tilted her head, blinked, and didn’t reply.

Wei Ya felt sheepish after being looked at by Wei Luo. She also felt that her question was too excessive. Just as she was about to say that Wei Luo didn’t have to reply, she heard Wei Luo say, “I was Princess Tianji’s study companion when I was six years old. I met Prince Jing then. Later, when I was visiting Princess Tianji in the palace, I would occasionally see him. As for why he would come to propose marriage… How about I ask older brother Prince Jing for you?”

Wei Ya felt ashamed after hearing Wei Luo’s response. Originally, she had just been curious. Wei Luo’s words made it seem like she was meddling in another person’s business. She quickly shook her head to indicate no. Then, she continued, “I haven’t congratulated younger sister Ah Luo yet. In the future, you’ll be Princess Consort Jing.”

Wei Luo faintly smiled, “Thank you third older sister.” Then, she immediately started walking up the stairs and didn’t say any additional words.

Wei Ya’s face showed her uneasy.

She didn’t know what was wrong with her. Why did she blurted out the question in her heart… Perhaps, she was unconvinced. Why was Wei Luo’s life so good? Why did everything good happen to her? Getting engaged was already difficult enough for her, but Wei Luo had effortlessly gotten engaged to Prince Jing.

Wei Luo’s recent words had enlightened her with perfect understanding.

It wasn’t that Wei Luo’s life was good. It was only that everyone’s fate was different. When Wei Luo was six years old, she had been Princess Tianji’s study companion while she had stayed at home and acted spoiled in front of her mother. This was why Wei Luo could become acquainted with Prince Jing Zhao Jie while she was an ordinary Third Miss that didn’t leave the residence and had little contact with outside people.

Wei Ya had to admit that she really couldn’t be compared to Wei Luo.

——–

Su Yue’s second floor was already full of people. Duke Ying and Old Madam sat in the top seats. The other branches sat on the other sides. In the center, there was a yellow rosewood table that was twenty to thirty feet long and carved with lions. There were many people in Duke Ying’s family, so the table was completely packed. The men and women didn’t seat separately. The scene was very lively.

The table was full of vegetable and meat dishes and fruits. Duke Ying picked up the first bite of food before everyone else picked up his or her chopsticks.

The family enjoyed themselves to the fullest eating dinner.

After dinner, Duke Yin led everyone to the pavilion to worship the moon.

Standing at the edge of the crowd, Wei Luo held three sticks of incense and bowed to the moon three times in worship before going up to insert the incense into the incense burner. After this, the entire family sat down together to drink tea and enjoyed the beauty of the moon. It was boring just to drink tea, so Duke Ying suggested that everyone would compose a poem with the moon as the subject. Whoever composed the best poem would be rewarded. This would both liven up the mood and test his grandchildren on their homework.

Wei Luo wasn’t feeling well. She sent Bai Lan to inform Duke Ying that she would be leaving in advance.

Sitting next to her and concerned, Fourth Madam Qin-shi asked her what was wrong. Ashamed, she whispered into Qin-shi‘s ear, “Fourth aunt, my stomach hurts.”

Qin-shi suddenly realized. Everyone understood that this type of female thing was always very embarrassing and couldn’t be avoid. Qin-shi also said she would find someone to bring her back, but Wei Luo didn’t want to bother Qin-shi, so she thoughtfully refused.

Wei Luo led Bai Lan to a boat that would take them back. Her period had started today. She hadn’t noticed until her stomach started to hurt after she ate a few oranges on the dining table.

After reaching shore, the roadside was dark. There was only the bright moon hanging in the sky. The scattered bright moonlight illuminated parts of the road to look like sparkling crystals. On both sides of the path, the trees were silent except for occasionally rustling when the night wind passed by. Wei Lui held her outer robe closer as she slowly walked.

Bai Lan worriedly asked, “Miss, do you feel better? Does it hurt a lot?”

Wei Luo lightly whimpered. Her small face turned white. Before, there were only bursts of minor pain, but the current sensation was terribly painful.

She wanted to go back to her room. Perhaps, she would feel better after lying down in bed and holding a hot water bottle. However, something seemed wrong after she had walked for a while. It felt as if someone was following her. She stopped and looked behind her. There wasn’t anything behind her other than the trees and the moonlight.

Perhaps, it was her misperception?

She continued to walk forward. She still had that feeling after walking for a bit.

She thought Chang Hong was worried about her and followed her over here to see her. So, she said, “I’m fine. I’ll feel better after I go back and rest. You don’t have to go with me.”

She waited for a long time, but there wasn’t any movement behind her.

Baffled, she turned her head. When she turned around, she suddenly saw a tall figure standing in front of her. Shocked, she instinctively retreated. However, she accidently stepped on a stone. Her body started to fall backwards.

The person in front of her swiftly caught her. His long arms wrapped around her soft waist.

A familiar scent blew by. Wei Luo couldn’t see the other person’s face, but she could recognize his voice.

She heard a deep, slow, magnetic, and sweet-sounding voice ask, “Ah Luo, why won’t you see me?”